The Birth of the Prince
About ten months after her dream of a white elephant and the sign that
she would give birth to a great leader, Queen Maya was expecting her
child. One day she went to the king and said, "My dear, I have to go
back to my parents. My baby is almost due." Since it was the custom in
India for a wife to have her baby in her father's house, the king
agreed, saying, "Very well, I will make the necessary arrangements for
you to go."
The king then sent soldiers ahead to clear the road
and prepared others to guard the queen as she was carried in a
decorated palanquin. The queen left Kapilavatthu in a long procession of
soldiers and retainers, headed for the capital of her father's kingdom.
On the way to the Koliya country, the great procession passed a garden
called Lumbini Park. This garden was near the kingdom called Nepal, at
the foot of the Himalayan mountains. The beautiful park with its sala
trees and scented flowers and busy birds and bees attracted the queen.
Since the park was a good resting place, the queen ordered the bearers
to stop for a while. As she rested underneath one of the sala trees, her
birth began and a baby boy was born. It was an auspicious day. The
birth took place on a full moon (which is now celebrated as Vesak, the
festival of the triple event of Buddha's birth, enlightenment and
death), in the year 623 B.C.
According to the legends about
this birth, the baby began to walk seven steps forward and at each step a
lotus flower appeared on the ground. Then, at the seventh stride, he
stopped and with a noble voice shouted:
"I am chief of the world,
Eldest am I in the world,
Foremost am I in the world.
This is the last birth.
There is now no more coming to be."
After the birth of her baby son, Queen Maha Maya immediately returned
to Kapilavatthu. When the king learnt of this he was very happy, and as
news of the birth of the long-awaited heir spread around the kingdom
there was rejoicing all over the country.
The First Five Monks
After enlightenment, the Buddha wanted to tell other people how to
become wise, good and do service for others. He thought, "Now Asita,
Alara and Uddaka are dead but my friends Kondanna, Bhaddiya, Vappa,
Mahanama and Assaji are in Benares. I must go there and talk to them."
Then he set out for Benares, till at last he came to a grove where his
five friends were. This grove at Sarnath was called the Deer Park. They
saw him coming towards them and one said to another, "Look yonder! There
is Gotama, the luxury-loving fellow who gave up fasting and fell back
into a life of ease and comfort. Don’t speak to him or show him any
respect. Let nobody go and offer to take his bowl or his robe. We’ll
just leave a mat there for him to sit on if he wants to and if he does
not, he can stand. Who is going to attend on a good-for-nothing ascetic
like him."
However, as the
Buddha came nearer and nearer, they began to notice that he had changed.
There was something about him, something noble and majestic such as
they had never seen before. And in spite of themselves, before they knew
what they were doing, they forgot all they had agreed on. One hastened
forward to meet him, and respectfully took his bowl and robe, another
busily prepared a seat for him, while a third hurried off and brought
him water to wash his feet.
After he had taken a seat the
Buddha spoke to them and said, "Listen, ascetics, I have the way to
deathlessness. Let me tell you, let me teach you. And if you listen and
learn and practise as I tell you, very soon you will know for
yourselves, not in some future life but here and now in this present
lifetime, that what I say is true. You will realise for yourself the
state that is beyond all life and death."
Naturally the five
ascetics were very astonished to hear their old companion talking like
this. They had seen him give up the hard life of fasting and
consequently believed that he had given up all efforts to find the
truth. So initially they simply did not believe him, and they told him
so.
But the Buddha replied, "You are mistaken, Ascetics. I have
not given up all effort. I am not living a life of self-indulgence,
idle comfort and ease. Listen to me. I really have attained supreme
knowledge and insight. And I can teach it to you so you may attain it
for yourselves."
Finally the five were willing to listen to him
and he delivered his first teachings. He advised his followers to
follow the Middle Way, avoiding the two extremes of self-indulgence and
self-torture. For the first time he taught the Four Noble Truths and how
to practise the Eightfold Path, the Noble Way that would lead to
freedom from suffering and to the way of enlightenment. With the
conversion of the five ascetics at the Deer Park at Sarnath, the order
of monks was established.
Anger
Hatred never ends through hatred.
By non-hate alone does it end.
This is an ancient truth.
- Dhammapada 5 (translated by Gil Fronsdal)
Anger is such a common obstacle to contentment that it merits a
separate discussion. It is not explicitly part of the Buddha’s precepts
for laypeople or the eight-fold path, but the Buddha did identify anger
(also called hatred or aversion) as one of the three unwholesome roots
(of action) for all humans. The other two are greed and delusion. Their
opposites, the wholesome roots, which are also present in all people,
are generosity, kindness and clarity or wisdom. All of our actions will
spring from one of these six sources. The precepts and other
instructions of the Buddha are designed to guide us towards drawing more
of our actions from the wholesome roots rather than the unwholesome
ones. The idea is that the wholesome roots are strengthened each time
they are exercised, and likewise with the unwholesome. Eventually the
unwholesome roots will wither from neglect, if we are diligent.
In many cases, we can recognize anger as a problem, and still somehow
find it irresistible. More than any other emotion, anger makes us feel
real, solid, and alive. It can make us feel as big as the world. What a
rush! But, like all feelings, it passes; and often there is a bitter
taste afterwards. Sometimes there are serious or even ruinous
consequences, so the subject calls for a closer look.
The
family of angry emotions includes everything from minor irritation to
unbridled rage. Resentment, hatred, irritation and mild annoyance are
all forms of anger. Every day there is an opportunity to become aware of
anger within ourselves and to learn something about how it works.
Controlling anger can seem an impossible assignment; but if we take
things one event at a time, we can understand anger and apply its
antidotes – patience, compassion and forgiveness.
Studying anger
If we want our life to be less controlled by anger, we’ve got to make a
commitment to watching our angry feelings as they come up. Only by
practicing this real-time reflection in our own life will we see
positive results. Reading about anger, thinking about it in the abstract
– well, you might as well read a good novel – it’s about somebody else.
Knowing and taking responsibility for our actions and words, and for
their consequences, is the only way to make a change.
No matter
how good a reason you have for being angry, the anger is still yours to
deal with; you can’t give it away. It’s not your mother’s fault, or
your partner’s, or your boss’s. Really, there’s no fault to assign. It
just happens because of habitual patterns established over many years,
from many causes. The habits may be yours or someone else’s or both, but
yours are the ones you can work on. Your patterns may include getting
yourself into particularly aggravating situations (repeatedly) or
reacting to ordinary situations with anger. Regardless of how the habits
came into being, your anger is your own to work with. Only you can
figure out how to escape from it or release it. When all else fails,
look in the mirror. See your own situation, your actions and their
consequences as clearly as possible.
It can also be helpful to
observe anger in others, especially if you are not the object of the
anger. How does it start? How does it progress? What ends it? What are
its effects on the angry person and those around her?
Anger can
be a natural response when you’re tired, sick, or stressed out —
natural, but avoidable. It is a logical flaw to blame someone or
something outside of yourself for your internal feelings. If you’re sick
or tired, acknowledge to yourself that you are sick or tired. Let it be
so without a lot of resistance. Try not to take out your bad mood on
anyone else. Accommodate your energy level by slowing down, which is one
way of practicing patience. The slowing down might reduce your feelings
of stress or aggravation, and it could also help you see more clearly
what is happening.
Hatred is a form of chronic anger. Hatred
requires constant feeding, whether it is of low or high intensity.
Unless refreshed with repeated thoughts about the initial aggravation,
hatred fades on its own. Sadly, we tend to pick at scabs rather than let
them heal. Similarly, we tend to feed anger with a steady stream of
reminders about how unfairly we’ve been treated. We might even catch
ourselves feeling good and then remember that we can’t feel good because
we’re angry! If you recognize this process of feeding and enjoying
hatred, you can gradually stop doing it. The more often you are able to
experience the feeling arising, the sooner the mental habit can be
broken. Negative feelings can wane from neglect, but only if you make
the decision to apply honest awareness each time the negative feelings
come up.
Righteous anger
Most people love the idea of
righteous anger. This way they can enjoy the delicious egotism of anger
AND feel virtuous about it. I witnessed a charming moment once between a
Buddhist teacher and student. The teacher said, in answer to a
question, “There’s no such thing as righteous anger. It’s just anger.”
The student said, “Did you say there’s no such thing as righteous
anger?” “Yes,” replied the teacher. “I was afraid of that,” the student
concluded. Laughter rang through the room. The student knew that
righteous anger was just anger with an excuse, but found it hard to let
it go.
There is a popular idea that no one would press for
social justice or other good causes without righteous anger. People get
each other excited about this injustice or that need. While the needs
and injustices are usually real, they are often distorted or taken out
of context in order to get people worked up. The anger generated may be
useful for getting attention on a particular problem, but few problems
can be solved through anger. If you look at history, you’ll see that the
lasting, beneficial social changes came through forgiveness,
compassion, and persistence. Examples that come to mind are the arrival
of democracy in South Africa and civil rights in America.
Anger
is a vehicle for breaking things, not building things. Anger is
difficult to sustain for long periods. In truth, anger is a poor
motivation for helping others or for making the world a better place.
The alternative is to find the care and compassion underneath the anger,
and let them provide the motivation for helping. You can’t make peace
out of angry emotions. You can make peace through love, acceptance,
appropriate attention, and appropriate action.
Have a look at your own righteous anger. What sparks it? Who does it help? Who does it harm?
Story
One morning I was drinking tea and reading the newspaper at home. A
tension stirred my gut while I read about the actions and words of the
(then) President of the United States, as reported in the Washington
Post. I noticed when the tension started and how it grew. I noticed that
it was connected with an unpleasant voice in my mind, “How can he..?!”
The feeling enlarged as I kept my attention on it. I was starting to
feel sick. Then there was an epiphany. The President is not feeling this
anger — he is not affected by it. No one but me is affected by it. I am
poisoning myself, to no purpose. The anger lifted like a cloud in a
strong breeze; I felt free. I’m happy to report that since that time “I
hate X” has departed from my vocabulary, both external and internal. The
poor old (now ex-) President will get by in spite of my disapproval,
but he’s no longer an excuse for me to have a tantrum, even within
myself. And I’m a better citizen without the poison of hatred.
Let’s say that you’ve decided to work on anger in yourself. What are some ways to understand and tame anger?
Wait 30 seconds
I once met a Tibetan Buddhist nun who taught meditation to incarcerated
adults. I asked her how she helped prisoners take responsibility for
their actions when they were tempted to react harshly to other people.
One technique she mentioned was teaching her students to wait 30 seconds
before responding in anger. When you are gripped by anger, this
30-second timeout allows you to take control of your own thoughts.
Taking control of your own thoughts is empowering. Amazingly, the rush
of anger rarely lasts for 30 seconds if the light of awareness is
shining on it. A 30-second pause is enough time for other thoughts to
come up. One or two elements of the wider situation can come into focus;
more than one perspective on the conflict may appear. The other person
involved can start to seem like a human being rather than a demon;
there’s even enough time for compassion to arise. Waiting 30 seconds is
not a cure-all, but it is a beginning point for the essential practice
of patience.
During the self-imposed 30-second wait a person
might consider the consequences of responding without thinking. For a
prisoner, the consequences could include disciplinary action,
retribution from other prisoners, even physical injury. For any of us,
possible consequences could be hurt feelings, damaged relationships,
sometimes even violence. Isn’t it worth holding on for 30 seconds to
avoid this sort of damage?
Non-reaction
Non-reaction to
anger is a viable option. It is a powerful gift you can give to yourself
and to others. By non-reaction I mean not taking another person’s anger
personally, even if it’s directed at you. You can see and acknowledge
the energy of harsh words, and you can see them as belonging to the
speaker, having little or nothing to do with you. Passive-aggressive
reactions, like grinning or pretending not to feel hurt or afraid, are
forms of anger. Cowering is a reactive response. Non-reactivity requires
even more self-control (and self-understanding) than restraining your
own angry response. It requires that you stand firm in your own
non-anger and decline to become involved in an angry exchange.
There’s a useful story from the Buddha’s life about non-reactivity to anger. It goes like this:
… Angry and displeased, [Bharadvaja the Abusive] approached the Buddha
[Gotama] and abused and reviled him with rude, harsh words.
When he
had finished speaking, the Buddha said to him: “What do you think,
Brahmin (Bharadvaja)? Do your friends and colleagues, kinsmen and
relatives, as well as guests come to visit you?”
“Sometimes they come to visit, Master Gotama”
“Do you then offer them some food or a meal or a snack?”
“Sometimes I do, Master Gotama.”
“But if they do not accept it from you, then to whom does the food belong?”
“If they do not accept it from me, then the food still belongs to us.”
“So too, Brahmin, we – who do not abuse anyone, who do not scold
anyone, who do not rail against anyone – refuse to accept from you the
abuse and scolding and tirade you let loose at us. It still belongs to
you, Brahmin! It still belongs to you, Brahmin!
“Brahmin, one who
abuses his own abuser, who scolds the one who scolds him, who rails
against the one who rails at him – he is said to partake of the meal, to
enter upon an exchange. But we do not partake of your meal; we do not
enter upon an exchange. It still belongs to you, Brahmin! It still
belongs to you, Brahmin!”
… One who repays an angry man with anger
Thereby makes things worse for himself.
Not repaying an angry man with anger,
One wins a battle hard to win…
As is often the way in these stories, in the end Bharadvaja is
transformed by his encounter with the Buddha, becomes a monk, and, under
the Buddha’s guidance, eventually achieves complete awakening. (From SN
VII.2, tr. Bhikkhu Bodhi)
If you’ve ever witnessed anyone
responding to anger without becoming angry, you know it’s an
extraordinary experience. It’s a way of holding a mirror up to angry
feelings; it provides the angry person with an opportunity to see
herself more clearly. At base, it is a compassionate act. I admit that
it is rarely easy to do. Habits and instincts are drawn from a deep
“fight or flight” response. However, often when this behavior pattern
arises, it is truly not necessary. If you can see when a combative
reaction to anger is counter-productive, you can start to free yourself
from anger.
After you “lose it”
As the Buddha said (in
MN21.11), people might speak to you in ways that are “timely or
untimely, true or untrue, gentle or harsh, connected with good or with
harm”. Words may be spoken with kind intentions or from hateful
feelings. You don’t know what will come at you. You can’t expect it
always to be nice.
Inevitably, there will be occasions when you
become angry. Some event or act will strike you as outrageous, unfair
and totally unacceptable. You’ll let fly with words or actions that,
even in the moment, you might know are not good. Now what?
Reflect on what happened. What was the immediate trigger for anger
arising, and what happened next? Try to assess your own thoughts and
emotions honestly. Try to guess what the other party or parties to the
encounter were feeling. Put yourself into their shoes. Take the time to
see the initial rumbling, gradual growth, and eventual eruption of the
angry exchange. What were the essential ingredients, on both sides?
Then reflect on the results for all concerned. What did you do
afterwards? Did you take the time to calm down, or did you strike out at
the next person you met? Are you still carrying the encounter,
replaying it in your mind? Are you looking for an opportunity to restart
and continue the argument? And what of the other person? It’s easy to
think that her feelings don’t matter, but for everyone, feelings lead to
thoughts and actions; so who knows what seeds of future acts, or
justifications for future acts, may have been spawned by an angry
outburst? Consider the potential harm, present and possibly future, to
all concerned.
Next you might try to imagine how a “wise
person” would have responded in the situation. If you have a wise person
in your life, think of describing the situation to her. What would she
have done?
Focus on any aspect you might do better with in the
future. Can you imagine managing the situation in a different way if it
comes up again? Think it through. Is there at least one incendiary word
you could remove from your vocabulary? Is there some expectation you
held that you can see, in retrospect, was unreasonable in the situation?
Did you misunderstand each other? Can you feel any compassion for the
other party to the encounter? Is she, or you, or both of you, stuck in
some way that makes this happen repeatedly? Make a study of your own
experience, and cultivate small improvements in your responses. Strong
habits can be broken, but usually by degrees rather than with one
sweeping resolution.
Compassion and forgiveness
One
approach that many people find useful in defusing confrontations is
summed up by the phrase: “Put yourself into her shoes”. Perhaps the
annoying person doesn’t have your mental abilities. Perhaps she is
emotionally strung out, or is particularly sensitive to criticism, or
envious of something you have. Maybe she feels chronically guilty. Could
some of these possibilities be applied to you? It is often the case
that the people we find the most upsetting are the ones that reflect
back to us our own most bothersome flaws.
To make any progress
in breaking free from anger, it is important to practice forgiveness. If
you step back from the intensity of a particular wrangle and look at
your (temporary) opponent with compassion, you will start to see her
suffering. It’s my personal policy to assume that everyone I encounter
is doing the best they can. There is blindness and unkindness
everywhere, but we can alter how we see our situation. Look at the
people you’re dealing with through compassionate eyes. If they are not
meeting your expectations, forgive them and then perhaps review your
expectations.
This is not to say that you have an obligation to
repeatedly put yourself into situations where more aggravation than you
can tolerate (or work with) comes up regularly. If your job is making
you sick, find another job. If your living situation is beyond repair,
take a break from it. Take care of yourself first. Just as in an
airplane emergency, you must put your own oxygen mask on first and then
help the others near you, you can’t improve a bad situation if you’re
overwhelmed. First, back away to a safe place from which you can assess
what’s happening. Forgive yourself. Forgive everyone involved, and then
make some decisions based on how you perceive the overall situation.
Forgiveness is patience with understanding. Assume that you have a lot
to learn, and try to learn something every day. Don’t shy away from the
hard lessons.
Greater in combat
Than a person who conquers
A thousand times a thousand people
Is the person who conquers herself.
- Dhammapada 103 (Fronsdal)
The main tools that we have at our disposal to conquer our anger are
patience, compassion and forgiveness, for ourselves and everyone. I
encourage you to find a way to develop these qualities which occur
naturally in your heart.
As the Buddha was dying, Ananda asked
who would be their teacher after death.
He replied to his disciple -
"Be lamps unto yourselves.
Be refuges unto yourselves.
Take yourself no external refuge.
Hold fast to the truth as a lamp.
Hold fast to the truth as a refuge.
Look not for a refuge in anyone besides yourselves.
And those, Ananda, who either now or after I am dead,
Shall be a lamp unto themselves,
Shall betake themselves as no external refuge,
But holding fast to the truth as their lamp,
Holding fast to the truth as their refuge,
Shall not look for refuge to anyone else besides themselves,
It is they who shall reach to the very topmost height;
But they must be anxious to learn."
According to the legends about this birth, the baby began to walk seven steps forward and at each step a lotus flower appeared on the ground. Then, at the seventh stride, he stopped and with a noble voice shouted:
"I am chief of the world,
Eldest am I in the world,
Foremost am I in the world.
This is the last birth.
There is now no more coming to be."
After the birth of her baby son, Queen Maha Maya immediately returned to Kapilavatthu. When the king learnt of this he was very happy, and as news of the birth of the long-awaited heir spread around the kingdom there was rejoicing all over the country.
The First Five Monks
However, as the Buddha came nearer and nearer, they began to notice that he had changed. There was something about him, something noble and majestic such as they had never seen before. And in spite of themselves, before they knew what they were doing, they forgot all they had agreed on. One hastened forward to meet him, and respectfully took his bowl and robe, another busily prepared a seat for him, while a third hurried off and brought him water to wash his feet.
After he had taken a seat the Buddha spoke to them and said, "Listen, ascetics, I have the way to deathlessness. Let me tell you, let me teach you. And if you listen and learn and practise as I tell you, very soon you will know for yourselves, not in some future life but here and now in this present lifetime, that what I say is true. You will realise for yourself the state that is beyond all life and death."
Naturally the five ascetics were very astonished to hear their old companion talking like this. They had seen him give up the hard life of fasting and consequently believed that he had given up all efforts to find the truth. So initially they simply did not believe him, and they told him so.
But the Buddha replied, "You are mistaken, Ascetics. I have not given up all effort. I am not living a life of self-indulgence, idle comfort and ease. Listen to me. I really have attained supreme knowledge and insight. And I can teach it to you so you may attain it for yourselves."
Finally the five were willing to listen to him and he delivered his first teachings. He advised his followers to follow the Middle Way, avoiding the two extremes of self-indulgence and self-torture. For the first time he taught the Four Noble Truths and how to practise the Eightfold Path, the Noble Way that would lead to freedom from suffering and to the way of enlightenment. With the conversion of the five ascetics at the Deer Park at Sarnath, the order of monks was established.
Anger
Hatred never ends through hatred.
By non-hate alone does it end.
This is an ancient truth.
- Dhammapada 5 (translated by Gil Fronsdal)
Anger is such a common obstacle to contentment that it merits a separate discussion. It is not explicitly part of the Buddha’s precepts for laypeople or the eight-fold path, but the Buddha did identify anger (also called hatred or aversion) as one of the three unwholesome roots (of action) for all humans. The other two are greed and delusion. Their opposites, the wholesome roots, which are also present in all people, are generosity, kindness and clarity or wisdom. All of our actions will spring from one of these six sources. The precepts and other instructions of the Buddha are designed to guide us towards drawing more of our actions from the wholesome roots rather than the unwholesome ones. The idea is that the wholesome roots are strengthened each time they are exercised, and likewise with the unwholesome. Eventually the unwholesome roots will wither from neglect, if we are diligent.
In many cases, we can recognize anger as a problem, and still somehow find it irresistible. More than any other emotion, anger makes us feel real, solid, and alive. It can make us feel as big as the world. What a rush! But, like all feelings, it passes; and often there is a bitter taste afterwards. Sometimes there are serious or even ruinous consequences, so the subject calls for a closer look.
The family of angry emotions includes everything from minor irritation to unbridled rage. Resentment, hatred, irritation and mild annoyance are all forms of anger. Every day there is an opportunity to become aware of anger within ourselves and to learn something about how it works. Controlling anger can seem an impossible assignment; but if we take things one event at a time, we can understand anger and apply its antidotes – patience, compassion and forgiveness.
Studying anger
If we want our life to be less controlled by anger, we’ve got to make a commitment to watching our angry feelings as they come up. Only by practicing this real-time reflection in our own life will we see positive results. Reading about anger, thinking about it in the abstract – well, you might as well read a good novel – it’s about somebody else. Knowing and taking responsibility for our actions and words, and for their consequences, is the only way to make a change.
No matter how good a reason you have for being angry, the anger is still yours to deal with; you can’t give it away. It’s not your mother’s fault, or your partner’s, or your boss’s. Really, there’s no fault to assign. It just happens because of habitual patterns established over many years, from many causes. The habits may be yours or someone else’s or both, but yours are the ones you can work on. Your patterns may include getting yourself into particularly aggravating situations (repeatedly) or reacting to ordinary situations with anger. Regardless of how the habits came into being, your anger is your own to work with. Only you can figure out how to escape from it or release it. When all else fails, look in the mirror. See your own situation, your actions and their consequences as clearly as possible.
It can also be helpful to observe anger in others, especially if you are not the object of the anger. How does it start? How does it progress? What ends it? What are its effects on the angry person and those around her?
Anger can be a natural response when you’re tired, sick, or stressed out — natural, but avoidable. It is a logical flaw to blame someone or something outside of yourself for your internal feelings. If you’re sick or tired, acknowledge to yourself that you are sick or tired. Let it be so without a lot of resistance. Try not to take out your bad mood on anyone else. Accommodate your energy level by slowing down, which is one way of practicing patience. The slowing down might reduce your feelings of stress or aggravation, and it could also help you see more clearly what is happening.
Hatred is a form of chronic anger. Hatred requires constant feeding, whether it is of low or high intensity. Unless refreshed with repeated thoughts about the initial aggravation, hatred fades on its own. Sadly, we tend to pick at scabs rather than let them heal. Similarly, we tend to feed anger with a steady stream of reminders about how unfairly we’ve been treated. We might even catch ourselves feeling good and then remember that we can’t feel good because we’re angry! If you recognize this process of feeding and enjoying hatred, you can gradually stop doing it. The more often you are able to experience the feeling arising, the sooner the mental habit can be broken. Negative feelings can wane from neglect, but only if you make the decision to apply honest awareness each time the negative feelings come up.
Righteous anger
Most people love the idea of righteous anger. This way they can enjoy the delicious egotism of anger AND feel virtuous about it. I witnessed a charming moment once between a Buddhist teacher and student. The teacher said, in answer to a question, “There’s no such thing as righteous anger. It’s just anger.” The student said, “Did you say there’s no such thing as righteous anger?” “Yes,” replied the teacher. “I was afraid of that,” the student concluded. Laughter rang through the room. The student knew that righteous anger was just anger with an excuse, but found it hard to let it go.
There is a popular idea that no one would press for social justice or other good causes without righteous anger. People get each other excited about this injustice or that need. While the needs and injustices are usually real, they are often distorted or taken out of context in order to get people worked up. The anger generated may be useful for getting attention on a particular problem, but few problems can be solved through anger. If you look at history, you’ll see that the lasting, beneficial social changes came through forgiveness, compassion, and persistence. Examples that come to mind are the arrival of democracy in South Africa and civil rights in America.
Anger is a vehicle for breaking things, not building things. Anger is difficult to sustain for long periods. In truth, anger is a poor motivation for helping others or for making the world a better place. The alternative is to find the care and compassion underneath the anger, and let them provide the motivation for helping. You can’t make peace out of angry emotions. You can make peace through love, acceptance, appropriate attention, and appropriate action.
Have a look at your own righteous anger. What sparks it? Who does it help? Who does it harm?
Story
One morning I was drinking tea and reading the newspaper at home. A tension stirred my gut while I read about the actions and words of the (then) President of the United States, as reported in the Washington Post. I noticed when the tension started and how it grew. I noticed that it was connected with an unpleasant voice in my mind, “How can he..?!” The feeling enlarged as I kept my attention on it. I was starting to feel sick. Then there was an epiphany. The President is not feeling this anger — he is not affected by it. No one but me is affected by it. I am poisoning myself, to no purpose. The anger lifted like a cloud in a strong breeze; I felt free. I’m happy to report that since that time “I hate X” has departed from my vocabulary, both external and internal. The poor old (now ex-) President will get by in spite of my disapproval, but he’s no longer an excuse for me to have a tantrum, even within myself. And I’m a better citizen without the poison of hatred.
Let’s say that you’ve decided to work on anger in yourself. What are some ways to understand and tame anger?
Wait 30 seconds
I once met a Tibetan Buddhist nun who taught meditation to incarcerated adults. I asked her how she helped prisoners take responsibility for their actions when they were tempted to react harshly to other people. One technique she mentioned was teaching her students to wait 30 seconds before responding in anger. When you are gripped by anger, this 30-second timeout allows you to take control of your own thoughts. Taking control of your own thoughts is empowering. Amazingly, the rush of anger rarely lasts for 30 seconds if the light of awareness is shining on it. A 30-second pause is enough time for other thoughts to come up. One or two elements of the wider situation can come into focus; more than one perspective on the conflict may appear. The other person involved can start to seem like a human being rather than a demon; there’s even enough time for compassion to arise. Waiting 30 seconds is not a cure-all, but it is a beginning point for the essential practice of patience.
During the self-imposed 30-second wait a person might consider the consequences of responding without thinking. For a prisoner, the consequences could include disciplinary action, retribution from other prisoners, even physical injury. For any of us, possible consequences could be hurt feelings, damaged relationships, sometimes even violence. Isn’t it worth holding on for 30 seconds to avoid this sort of damage?
Non-reaction
Non-reaction to anger is a viable option. It is a powerful gift you can give to yourself and to others. By non-reaction I mean not taking another person’s anger personally, even if it’s directed at you. You can see and acknowledge the energy of harsh words, and you can see them as belonging to the speaker, having little or nothing to do with you. Passive-aggressive reactions, like grinning or pretending not to feel hurt or afraid, are forms of anger. Cowering is a reactive response. Non-reactivity requires even more self-control (and self-understanding) than restraining your own angry response. It requires that you stand firm in your own non-anger and decline to become involved in an angry exchange.
There’s a useful story from the Buddha’s life about non-reactivity to anger. It goes like this:
… Angry and displeased, [Bharadvaja the Abusive] approached the Buddha [Gotama] and abused and reviled him with rude, harsh words.
When he had finished speaking, the Buddha said to him: “What do you think, Brahmin (Bharadvaja)? Do your friends and colleagues, kinsmen and relatives, as well as guests come to visit you?”
“Sometimes they come to visit, Master Gotama”
“Do you then offer them some food or a meal or a snack?”
“Sometimes I do, Master Gotama.”
“But if they do not accept it from you, then to whom does the food belong?”
“If they do not accept it from me, then the food still belongs to us.”
“So too, Brahmin, we – who do not abuse anyone, who do not scold anyone, who do not rail against anyone – refuse to accept from you the abuse and scolding and tirade you let loose at us. It still belongs to you, Brahmin! It still belongs to you, Brahmin!
“Brahmin, one who abuses his own abuser, who scolds the one who scolds him, who rails against the one who rails at him – he is said to partake of the meal, to enter upon an exchange. But we do not partake of your meal; we do not enter upon an exchange. It still belongs to you, Brahmin! It still belongs to you, Brahmin!”
… One who repays an angry man with anger
Thereby makes things worse for himself.
Not repaying an angry man with anger,
One wins a battle hard to win…
As is often the way in these stories, in the end Bharadvaja is transformed by his encounter with the Buddha, becomes a monk, and, under the Buddha’s guidance, eventually achieves complete awakening. (From SN VII.2, tr. Bhikkhu Bodhi)
If you’ve ever witnessed anyone responding to anger without becoming angry, you know it’s an extraordinary experience. It’s a way of holding a mirror up to angry feelings; it provides the angry person with an opportunity to see herself more clearly. At base, it is a compassionate act. I admit that it is rarely easy to do. Habits and instincts are drawn from a deep “fight or flight” response. However, often when this behavior pattern arises, it is truly not necessary. If you can see when a combative reaction to anger is counter-productive, you can start to free yourself from anger.
After you “lose it”
As the Buddha said (in MN21.11), people might speak to you in ways that are “timely or untimely, true or untrue, gentle or harsh, connected with good or with harm”. Words may be spoken with kind intentions or from hateful feelings. You don’t know what will come at you. You can’t expect it always to be nice.
Inevitably, there will be occasions when you become angry. Some event or act will strike you as outrageous, unfair and totally unacceptable. You’ll let fly with words or actions that, even in the moment, you might know are not good. Now what?
Reflect on what happened. What was the immediate trigger for anger arising, and what happened next? Try to assess your own thoughts and emotions honestly. Try to guess what the other party or parties to the encounter were feeling. Put yourself into their shoes. Take the time to see the initial rumbling, gradual growth, and eventual eruption of the angry exchange. What were the essential ingredients, on both sides?
Then reflect on the results for all concerned. What did you do afterwards? Did you take the time to calm down, or did you strike out at the next person you met? Are you still carrying the encounter, replaying it in your mind? Are you looking for an opportunity to restart and continue the argument? And what of the other person? It’s easy to think that her feelings don’t matter, but for everyone, feelings lead to thoughts and actions; so who knows what seeds of future acts, or justifications for future acts, may have been spawned by an angry outburst? Consider the potential harm, present and possibly future, to all concerned.
Next you might try to imagine how a “wise person” would have responded in the situation. If you have a wise person in your life, think of describing the situation to her. What would she have done?
Focus on any aspect you might do better with in the future. Can you imagine managing the situation in a different way if it comes up again? Think it through. Is there at least one incendiary word you could remove from your vocabulary? Is there some expectation you held that you can see, in retrospect, was unreasonable in the situation? Did you misunderstand each other? Can you feel any compassion for the other party to the encounter? Is she, or you, or both of you, stuck in some way that makes this happen repeatedly? Make a study of your own experience, and cultivate small improvements in your responses. Strong habits can be broken, but usually by degrees rather than with one sweeping resolution.
Compassion and forgiveness
One approach that many people find useful in defusing confrontations is summed up by the phrase: “Put yourself into her shoes”. Perhaps the annoying person doesn’t have your mental abilities. Perhaps she is emotionally strung out, or is particularly sensitive to criticism, or envious of something you have. Maybe she feels chronically guilty. Could some of these possibilities be applied to you? It is often the case that the people we find the most upsetting are the ones that reflect back to us our own most bothersome flaws.
To make any progress in breaking free from anger, it is important to practice forgiveness. If you step back from the intensity of a particular wrangle and look at your (temporary) opponent with compassion, you will start to see her suffering. It’s my personal policy to assume that everyone I encounter is doing the best they can. There is blindness and unkindness everywhere, but we can alter how we see our situation. Look at the people you’re dealing with through compassionate eyes. If they are not meeting your expectations, forgive them and then perhaps review your expectations.
This is not to say that you have an obligation to repeatedly put yourself into situations where more aggravation than you can tolerate (or work with) comes up regularly. If your job is making you sick, find another job. If your living situation is beyond repair, take a break from it. Take care of yourself first. Just as in an airplane emergency, you must put your own oxygen mask on first and then help the others near you, you can’t improve a bad situation if you’re overwhelmed. First, back away to a safe place from which you can assess what’s happening. Forgive yourself. Forgive everyone involved, and then make some decisions based on how you perceive the overall situation.
Forgiveness is patience with understanding. Assume that you have a lot to learn, and try to learn something every day. Don’t shy away from the hard lessons.
Greater in combat
Than a person who conquers
A thousand times a thousand people
Is the person who conquers herself.
- Dhammapada 103 (Fronsdal)
The main tools that we have at our disposal to conquer our anger are patience, compassion and forgiveness, for ourselves and everyone. I encourage you to find a way to develop these qualities which occur naturally in your heart.
As the Buddha was dying, Ananda asked
who would be their teacher after death.He replied to his disciple -
"Be lamps unto yourselves.
Be refuges unto yourselves.
Take yourself no external refuge.
Hold fast to the truth as a lamp.
Hold fast to the truth as a refuge.
Look not for a refuge in anyone besides yourselves.
And those, Ananda, who either now or after I am dead,
Shall be a lamp unto themselves,
Shall betake themselves as no external refuge,
But holding fast to the truth as their lamp,
Holding fast to the truth as their refuge,
Shall not look for refuge to anyone else besides themselves,
It is they who shall reach to the very topmost height;
But they must be anxious to learn."
ອາຊີວົກຜູ້ປຶກໜາປັນຍາບອດ
- ພຣະບໍຣົມມະໂພທິສັດສີທັດຖະນັ້ນ ເມື່ອພຣະອົງຕັດສະຮູ້ ອະນຸຕຣະສັມມາສັມໂພທິຍານ ເມື່ອໃກ້ໃກ້ສະຫວ່າງ ເດືອນວິຂາແລ້ວ ນັບແຕ່ນັ້ນມາ ພຣະອົງກໍໄດ້ ພຣະນາມວ່າ ພຣະອໍຣະຫັນຕະສັມມາສັມພຸດທະເຈົ້າ ຫຼືພຣະອໍຣະຫັນຕະສັມມາສັມໂພທິຍານ ຫຼືຮຽກສັ້ນໆວ່າພຣະພຸດທະເຈົ້ານັ້ນເອງ.
- ພຣະພຸດທະອົງຕັດສຮູ້ແລ້ວ ມອງເຫັນວ່າ ມະນຸດທັງຫຼາຍ ຍ່ອມຕົກຢູ່ໃນບ້ວງແຫ່ງ ກິເລສ ຕັນຫາ, ກິເລສຕັນຫານັ້ນ ຍ່ອມເປັນເພັນເພິງເຜົາ ເຂົາຢ່າງເປັນວັດຕະຈັກ : ພຣະອົງເຫັນສະພາບຂອງສັຕວະໂລກແລ້ວ ພຣະອົງຊົງດໍາຣິເປັນສອງທາງວ່າ 1. ຈະເຂົ້າສູ່ພຣະນິພານເລີຍບໍ ? 2. ຫຼືຈະຢູ່ໂຜດສັຕວ໌ເລົ່ານີ້:
- ໃນຂະນະ ຄືນນັ້ນເອງ, ພຣະສະຫັມປັຕຕິພຣົມກໍລົງມາ ອາຣາທະນາໃຫ້ພຣະອົງ ຢູ່ໂຜດສັຕວ໌ຕໍ່ໄປ
- ພຣົມມາ ຈະ ໂລກາ ........
- ຂະນະນັ້ນເອງ ພຣະພຸດທະອົງປະທັບທີ່ສະໂບກຂະຣະນີ ຊົງພິຈາຣະນາດອກບົວ 4 ເລົ່າ ທຽບກັບມະນຸດ ກໍມີ 4 ພວກ ຕາມພື້ນພູມແຫ່ງການຮັບຮູ້.
1. ອຸຄຕິຕັນຍູ : ພວກສລາດຫຼາຍທີ່ສຸດ ເໝືອນດອກບົວທີ່ພົ້ນນໍ້າແລ້ວ ພຽງໄດ້ຟັງທີ່ຍົກຂຶ້ນກໍຈະຮູ້ໄດ້ທັນທີ.
2. ວິປຈິຕັນຍູ : ຄືພວກສະຫຼາດພໍສົມຄວນ ເໝືອນດອກບົວຢູ່ສະເໝີນໍ້າ ພຽງແຕ່ໄດ້ຟັງອະທິບາຍເລັກນ້ອຍກໍຮູ້ໂລດ.
3. ເນຍະ : ຄືພວກສລາດປານກາງ ຫຼືເວນະຍະສັຕວ໌ ເໝືອນດອກບົວທີ່ຢູ່ໃຕ້ນໍ້າ ມີໂອກາດທີ່ຈະພົ້ນນໍ້າໄດ້ໃນໂອກາດຕໍ່ໄປ ຫຼືວັນໜ້າ, ເມື່ອໄດ້ອົບຮົບບົ່ມສະຕິພໍຄວນ ແລະພໍ່າເພັງປາຣະມີ ພໍສົມຄວນກໍເຂົ້າໃຈທໍາໄດ້.
4. ປະທະປະຣະມະ : ຄືຜູ້ໂງ່ເຂົາເບົາປັນຍາ ເໝືອນບົວທີ່ຢູ່ໃນເຫງົ້າ ແລະຕົມ ຍາກທີ່ຈະສອນໃຫ້ເຂົ້າໃຈໄດ້ ບໍ່ມີໂອກາດພົບທັມ ຍ່ອມເປັນອາຫານຂອງເຕົ່າ ແລະປາໄດ້ທຸກ ເມື່ອ.
- ເມື່ອພຣະພຸດທະອົງ ເຫັນຄວາມເປັນຈິງຂອງມະນຸດແລ້ວ ກໍມີພຣະມະຫາກະຣຸນາທິຄຸນຕໍ່ຊາວໂລກ ພຣະອົງກໍເພັ່ງທິພຈັກຂຸຍານ ກວດເບິ່ງໂລກ ມອງຫາວ່າໃຜຈະຮັບຮູ້ທັມ ຂອງພຣະອົງໄດ້ໂດຍໄວ ກໍມອງເຫັນແຕ່ປັນຈະວັດຄີທັງ 5 ຈຶ່ງສະເດັດໄປຍັງອິສິປະຕະນະມະຣິຄຄະທານວັນ (ປ່າທີ່ມີກວາງຫຼາຍ) ເຊິ່ງປັນຈະວັຄຄີຢູ່ທີ່ນັ້ນ.
ໃຜເປັນສາສດາຂອງທ່ານ ?
- ໃນລະຫວ່າງທາງ ພຣະພຸດທະອົງ ໄດ້ພົບກັບອາຊີວົກຄົນໜຶ່ງ ທີ່ສວນທາງພຣະອົງມາ, ຊື່ອຸປະກະ ໄດ້ເຂົ້າມາຖາມພຣະພຸດທະອົງວ່າ ໃຜເປັນສາສດາຂອງທ່ານ ? ໃຜເປັນຜູ້ອົບທັມໃຫ້ກັບທ່ານມາ ? ທ່ານຈົ່ງຊ່ວຍສະແດງທັມໂຜດເຮົາດ້ວຍ ພຣະອົງໄດ້ຕັດວ່າ ເຮົາເປັນສະຍັມພູ ເປັນຜູ້ຕັດສະຮູ້ໄດ້ດ້ວຍຕົນເອງ, ພຽງເທົ່ານັ້ນເອງ ອາຊີວົກຜູ້ນັ້ນ ທໍາຕົວແບບຕະລຶງ ແລະກ່າວຄໍາບໍ່ສັດທາອອກມາ ເຊີນທ່ານຮູ້ໄປຄົນດຽວເຖີດ ເປັນໄປບໍ່ໄດ້.....ຄົນບໍ່ມີຄຣູບາອາຈານຈະມີທີ່ໃດ,
- ໃນທີ່ສຸດກໍສະແດງການແກວ່ງສີສະ, ຖົ່ມນໍ້າລາຍ ແລບລີ້ນ, ແລ້ວກໍເດີນຫຼີ້ນພຣະພຸດທະອົງໜີໄປ.
ວິຈານ:
- ຄົນປຶກໜາ ປັນາຍາບອດນັ້ນມີຈິງ ບໍ່ວ່າແຕ່ໃນຍຸກນີ້ ຍຸກພຣະພຸດທະອົງ ຍັງຊົງພຣະຊົນຢູ່ກໍຍັງມີ ຄົນບາບໜັກ ປັນຍາຊາມ ແມ່ນແຕ່ພົບກັບພຣະພຸດທະເຈົ້າເອງ ຍັງບໍ່ສາມາດທີ່ຈະສຶກສາທັມ ໃຫ້ພົບທັມ, ຈາກວັນນັ້ນ ຮອດວັນນີ້ ກໍໄດ້ 2595 ປີແລ້ວ ຫ່າງຈາກພຣະພຸດທະອົງມາຫຼາຍປີ ຄົນທີ່ປຶກສາປັນຍາບອດ ຍ່ອມມີຢູ່ເປັນທັມມະດາ ສະນັ້ນ, ນັກການເຜີຍແຜ່ສາສນາ ຈໍາເປັນຢ່າງຍິ່ງ ທີ່ຈະຕ້ອງໄດ້ພະຍາຍາມ ເວົ້າທັມນັ້ນໆສະເໝີ ອະທິບາຍສະເໝີ ຢ່າລົດລະເດັດຂາດ.
ຄຸນສົມບັດຂອງພຣະພູດທະເຈົ້າ
ພຣະພຸດທະເຈົ້າ ຊົງປະກອບດ້ວຍຄຸນສົມບັດ ບຸກຄະລິກະພາບຂອງການສະແດງທັມ ທີ່ຊາວໂລກທັງຫຼາຍເພິ່ງພໍໃຈ ດັ່ງນີ້:
໑. ຣູປປັປປະມານິກາ : ມີພຣະຮູບໂສມທີ່ງົດງາມ ສົມບູນດ້ວຍມະຫາສັປປຸຣິສະລັກສະນະ ໓໒ ປະການ.
໒. ໂຂສັປປະມານິກາ : ມີພຣະສຸຣະສຽງທີ່ອ່ອນຫວານຈັບໃຈແກ່ຜູ້ຟັງ.
໓. ລູຂັປປະມານິກາ : ມີບໍຣິຂານຫຼື້ປັດໄຈທີ່ເສົ້າໝອງຍັງຄວາມເຫຼື້ອມໃສໃຫ້ເກີດ.
໔. ທັມມັປປະມານິກາ : ເປັນຜູ້ຊົງທັມອັນຍອດຢ້ຽມ ໃນບັນດາໝູ່ມະນຸດ ແລະເທວະດາທັງຫຼາຍ ຊົງເປັນຣາຊາແຫ່ງທັມສົມບູນດ້ວຍວິຊຊາ ແລະຈາຣະນະ.
ພຣະພຸດທະເຈົ້າຊົງມີພຣະສຸຣພະສຽງເໝືອນກັບພຣົມ ຊົນທັງຫຼາຍໄດ້ຟັງແລ້ວ ຕ່າງກໍຕິດໃຈໃນພຣະສຸຣະສຽງຂອງ ພຣະອົງ ໄດ້ເຫັນປະຕິກິຣິຍາ ໄດ້ຟັງທັມອັນງາມຂອງພຣະອົງ ແລ້ວຕ່າງກໍເກີດຄວາມເຫຼື້ອມໃສສັດທາ ດັ່ງທີ່ອຸຕຣະ ພຣາມ ໄດ້ກ່າວຍ້ອງຍໍຊົມເຊີຍພຣະອົງໄວ້ດັ່ງນີ້ :
- ທ່ານພຣະໂຄດົມ ພຣະອົງນັ້ນຊົງມີພຣະສຸຣະສຽງ ກືກກ້ອງເປັ່ງອອກມາຈາກພຣະໂອດ ປະກອບດ້ວຍອົງ ໘ ປະການ.
໑. ນູ່ມນວນ.
໒. ຟັງຊັດເຈນ.
໓. ມ່ວນ, ອ່ອນຫວານ.
໔. ຟັງງ່າຍ.
໕. ກົມກ່ອມ.
໖. ບໍ່ແຫບ.
໗. ເລິກເຊິ່ງ.
໘. ມີພຣະສຸຣະສຽງກັງວານ.
ພຣະສຸຣະສຽງທີ່ພຣະພຸດທະອົງຊົງສອນພຸດທະບໍຣິສັດ ໃຫ້ເຂົ້າໃຈນັ້ນບໍ່ໄດ້ກ້ອງອອກໄປນອກພຸດທະບໍຣິສັດ ນັ້ນ ຊົນທັງຫຼາຍທີ່ທ່ານພຣະໂຄດົມຊົງຊີ້ແຈ້ງໃຫ້ຊັດເຈນ ຊວນໃຫ້ຢາກຮັບເອົາໄປປະຕິບັດເຈົ້າໃຈ ອາດຫານ ອອຍໃຈໃຫ້ລື່ນເລີງດ້ວຍທັມມິກະຖາ ຈຶ່ງລຸກຈາກທີ່ນັ່ງໄປຫຼຽວເບິ່ງ ໂດຍບໍ່ຢາກຈາກໜີໄປ ເຮົາໄດ້ເຫັນພຣະໂຄ ດົມພຣະອົງນັ້ນ ຊົງດຳເນີນປະທັບຢືນສະເດັດເຂົ້າໄກ້ບ້ານ ປະນິ່ງໃນໃກ້ບ້ານ ກຳລັງສະເຫວີຍພຣະກາຍາຫານ
ໃນທີ່ໃກ້ບ້ານ ສະເຫວີຍສະເຣັດແລ້ວກໍຊົງນັ່ງນິ້ງ ສະເຫວີຍສຳເຣັດແລ້ວຊົງອະນຸໂມທະນາ ສະເດັດກັບມາຍັງພຣະ
ອາຣາມ ສະເດັດມາເຖິງພຣະອາຣາມແລ້ວ ສະເດັດປະທັບນັ່ງນິ້ງຢູ່ໃນພຣະອາຣາມແລ້ວ ຊົງສະແດງທັມແກ່ພຸດທະ
ບໍຣິສັດ ທ່ານພຣະໂຄດົມພຣະອົງນັ້ນ ຊົງພຣະຄຸນເຊັ່ນນີ້ ແລະຊົງຄຸນຍິ່ງກວ່າທີ່ກ່າວແລ້ວ.
- ພຣະອານົນທ໌ເປັນພຸດທະອຸປະຖາກ ທີ່ຍິ່ງຍອດ ເຊິ່ງຮຽກວ່າເປັນຍອດແຫ່ງເລຂາ
ຍິ່ງກວ່າເລຂາໃດໆໃນໂລກ ດັ່ງພຣະພຸດທະເຈົ້າຍ້ອງພຣະອານົນທ໌ໄວ້ວ່າ
ໃນສຸດຕັນຕະປິດົກ ເຫຼັ້ມທີ ໒໐ ສະບັບສະຍາມຣັດພາສາປລີ ແລະສູດຕັນຕະປິຕະເກ
ເຫຼັ້ມທີ ໑໒ ອັງຄຸດຕະຣະນິກາຍັສສະ ເອກ-ທຸກ-ຕິກກະນິປາຕາ ໑໔໙ ວັຄໂຄ ຕະຕິໂຍ.
ປາລີ:
ວັຄໂຄ ຕະຕິໂຍ
໑. ເອຕະທັຄຄັງ ພິກຂາເວ ມະມະ ສາວະການັງ ພິກຂູນັງ ພະຫຸສສຸຕານັງ
ຍະທິທັງ ອານັນໂທ,
໒. ສະຕິມັນຕານັງ ຍະທິທັງ ອານັນໂທ,
໓. ຄະຕິ ມັນຕານັງ ຍະທິທັງ ອານັນໂທ,
໔. ທະຕິມັນຕານັງ ຍະທິທັງ ອານັນໂທ,
໕. ອຸປະຖາການັງ ຍະທິທັງ ຍະທິທັງ.
ແປລາວ:
ວັຄທີ ໓
໑. ດູກອນ ພິກຂຸທັງຫຼາຍ !! ພຣະອານົນທ໌ ເລີສກວ່າພິກຂຸສາວົກຂອງເຮົາ ຜູ້ເປັນພະຫູສູຕ.
໒. ພຣະອານົນທ໌ ເລີສກວ່າພິກຂຸສາວົກຂອງເຮົາ ຜູ້ມີສະຕິ.
໓. ພຣະອານົນທ໌ ເລີສກວ່າພິກຂຸສາວົກຂອງເຮົາ ຜູ້ຄະຕິ.
໔. ພຣະອານົນທ໌ ເລີສກວ່າພິກຂຸສາວົກຂອງເຮົາ ຜູ້ຜູ້ມີຄວາມພຽຣ.
໕. ພຣະອານົນທ໌ ເລີສກວ່າພິກຂຸສາວົກຂອງເຮົາ ຜູ້ເປັນອຸປະຖາກ.
- ທ່ານຜູ້ໃດ ສະໝັກ ຫຼືມີໜ້າທີ່ຕຳແໜ່ງເປັນເລຂາຂອງເຈົ້ານາຍ ຫຼືເປັນເລຂາຂອງຜູ້ບໍລິ ຫານໜ່ວຍງານລັດ, ບໍຣິສັດ ແລະອື່ນໆ ຄວນຈະຮຽນເອົາແບບຢ່າງຂອງພຣະອານົນທ໌ນີ້, ໃນບັນດາ ພິກຂຸສາວົກຂອງພຣະພຸດທະອົງຄ໌ນັ້ນ ພຣະອົງຊົງຍົກຍ້ອງ ຫຼືຕັ້ງເອຕະທັກຄະໄວ້ຫຼາຍ ອົງຄ໌ ທັງເປັນພິກຂຸແລະພິກຂຸນີ້ ໃນໜັງສືອະນຸພຸດທະພຣະອົງຄ໌ໄດ້ຍົກຍ້ອງພິກຂຸສາວົກໄວ້ ໘໐ ອົງ ພິກຂຸນີສາວົກ ໔໐ ອົງຄ໌ ວ່າເປັນເລີດກວ່າພິກຂຸທັງຫຼາຍ ແຕ່ພຣະພິກຂຸສາວົກທີ່ຊົງມີຄຸນສົມບັດ ທີ່ຍ້ອງໄວ້ຫຼາຍກວ່າໝູ່ເຖິງ ໕ ຂໍ້ຄືພຣະອານົນທ໌ນັ້ນເອງ ດັ່ງທີ່ກ່າວແລ້ວ,
໑. ຣູປປັປປະມານິກາ : ມີພຣະຮູບໂສມທີ່ງົດງາມ ສົມບູນດ້ວຍມະຫາສັປປຸຣິສະລັກສະນະ ໓໒ ປະການ.
໒. ໂຂສັປປະມານິກາ : ມີພຣະສຸຣະສຽງທີ່ອ່ອນຫວານຈັບໃຈແກ່ຜູ້ຟັງ.
໓. ລູຂັປປະມານິກາ : ມີບໍຣິຂານຫຼື້ປັດໄຈທີ່ເສົ້າໝອງຍັງຄວາມເຫຼື້ອມໃສໃຫ້ເກີດ.
໔. ທັມມັປປະມານິກາ : ເປັນຜູ້ຊົງທັມອັນຍອດຢ້ຽມ ໃນບັນດາໝູ່ມະນຸດ ແລະເທວະດາທັງຫຼາຍ ຊົງເປັນຣາຊາແຫ່ງທັມສົມບູນດ້ວຍວິຊຊາ ແລະຈາຣະນະ.
ພຣະພຸດທະເຈົ້າຊົງມີພຣະສຸຣພະສຽງເໝືອນກັບພຣົມ ຊົນທັງຫຼາຍໄດ້ຟັງແລ້ວ ຕ່າງກໍຕິດໃຈໃນພຣະສຸຣະສຽງຂອງ ພຣະອົງ ໄດ້ເຫັນປະຕິກິຣິຍາ ໄດ້ຟັງທັມອັນງາມຂອງພຣະອົງ ແລ້ວຕ່າງກໍເກີດຄວາມເຫຼື້ອມໃສສັດທາ ດັ່ງທີ່ອຸຕຣະ ພຣາມ ໄດ້ກ່າວຍ້ອງຍໍຊົມເຊີຍພຣະອົງໄວ້ດັ່ງນີ້ :
- ທ່ານພຣະໂຄດົມ ພຣະອົງນັ້ນຊົງມີພຣະສຸຣະສຽງ ກືກກ້ອງເປັ່ງອອກມາຈາກພຣະໂອດ ປະກອບດ້ວຍອົງ ໘ ປະການ.
໑. ນູ່ມນວນ.
໒. ຟັງຊັດເຈນ.
໓. ມ່ວນ, ອ່ອນຫວານ.
໔. ຟັງງ່າຍ.
໕. ກົມກ່ອມ.
໖. ບໍ່ແຫບ.
໗. ເລິກເຊິ່ງ.
໘. ມີພຣະສຸຣະສຽງກັງວານ.
ພຣະສຸຣະສຽງທີ່ພຣະພຸດທະອົງຊົງສອນພຸດທະບໍຣິສັດ ໃຫ້ເຂົ້າໃຈນັ້ນບໍ່ໄດ້ກ້ອງອອກໄປນອກພຸດທະບໍຣິສັດ ນັ້ນ ຊົນທັງຫຼາຍທີ່ທ່ານພຣະໂຄດົມຊົງຊີ້ແຈ້ງໃຫ້ຊັດເຈນ ຊວນໃຫ້ຢາກຮັບເອົາໄປປະຕິບັດເຈົ້າໃຈ ອາດຫານ ອອຍໃຈໃຫ້ລື່ນເລີງດ້ວຍທັມມິກະຖາ ຈຶ່ງລຸກຈາກທີ່ນັ່ງໄປຫຼຽວເບິ່ງ ໂດຍບໍ່ຢາກຈາກໜີໄປ ເຮົາໄດ້ເຫັນພຣະໂຄ ດົມພຣະອົງນັ້ນ ຊົງດຳເນີນປະທັບຢືນສະເດັດເຂົ້າໄກ້ບ້ານ ປະນິ່ງໃນໃກ້ບ້ານ ກຳລັງສະເຫວີຍພຣະກາຍາຫານ
ໃນທີ່ໃກ້ບ້ານ ສະເຫວີຍສະເຣັດແລ້ວກໍຊົງນັ່ງນິ້ງ ສະເຫວີຍສຳເຣັດແລ້ວຊົງອະນຸໂມທະນາ ສະເດັດກັບມາຍັງພຣະ
ອາຣາມ ສະເດັດມາເຖິງພຣະອາຣາມແລ້ວ ສະເດັດປະທັບນັ່ງນິ້ງຢູ່ໃນພຣະອາຣາມແລ້ວ ຊົງສະແດງທັມແກ່ພຸດທະ
ບໍຣິສັດ ທ່ານພຣະໂຄດົມພຣະອົງນັ້ນ ຊົງພຣະຄຸນເຊັ່ນນີ້ ແລະຊົງຄຸນຍິ່ງກວ່າທີ່ກ່າວແລ້ວ.
ພຣະອານົນທ໌ເຖຣະ ຍອດເລຂາ
ປາລີ:
ວັຄໂຄ ຕະຕິໂຍ
໑. ເອຕະທັຄຄັງ ພິກຂາເວ ມະມະ ສາວະການັງ ພິກຂູນັງ ພະຫຸສສຸຕານັງ
ຍະທິທັງ ອານັນໂທ,
໒. ສະຕິມັນຕານັງ ຍະທິທັງ ອານັນໂທ,
໓. ຄະຕິ ມັນຕານັງ ຍະທິທັງ ອານັນໂທ,
໔. ທະຕິມັນຕານັງ ຍະທິທັງ ອານັນໂທ,
໕. ອຸປະຖາການັງ ຍະທິທັງ ຍະທິທັງ.
ແປລາວ:
ວັຄທີ ໓
໑. ດູກອນ ພິກຂຸທັງຫຼາຍ !! ພຣະອານົນທ໌ ເລີສກວ່າພິກຂຸສາວົກຂອງເຮົາ ຜູ້ເປັນພະຫູສູຕ.
໒. ພຣະອານົນທ໌ ເລີສກວ່າພິກຂຸສາວົກຂອງເຮົາ ຜູ້ມີສະຕິ.
໓. ພຣະອານົນທ໌ ເລີສກວ່າພິກຂຸສາວົກຂອງເຮົາ ຜູ້ຄະຕິ.
໔. ພຣະອານົນທ໌ ເລີສກວ່າພິກຂຸສາວົກຂອງເຮົາ ຜູ້ຜູ້ມີຄວາມພຽຣ.
໕. ພຣະອານົນທ໌ ເລີສກວ່າພິກຂຸສາວົກຂອງເຮົາ ຜູ້ເປັນອຸປະຖາກ.
- ທ່ານຜູ້ໃດ ສະໝັກ ຫຼືມີໜ້າທີ່ຕຳແໜ່ງເປັນເລຂາຂອງເຈົ້ານາຍ ຫຼືເປັນເລຂາຂອງຜູ້ບໍລິ ຫານໜ່ວຍງານລັດ, ບໍຣິສັດ ແລະອື່ນໆ ຄວນຈະຮຽນເອົາແບບຢ່າງຂອງພຣະອານົນທ໌ນີ້, ໃນບັນດາ ພິກຂຸສາວົກຂອງພຣະພຸດທະອົງຄ໌ນັ້ນ ພຣະອົງຊົງຍົກຍ້ອງ ຫຼືຕັ້ງເອຕະທັກຄະໄວ້ຫຼາຍ ອົງຄ໌ ທັງເປັນພິກຂຸແລະພິກຂຸນີ້ ໃນໜັງສືອະນຸພຸດທະພຣະອົງຄ໌ໄດ້ຍົກຍ້ອງພິກຂຸສາວົກໄວ້ ໘໐ ອົງ ພິກຂຸນີສາວົກ ໔໐ ອົງຄ໌ ວ່າເປັນເລີດກວ່າພິກຂຸທັງຫຼາຍ ແຕ່ພຣະພິກຂຸສາວົກທີ່ຊົງມີຄຸນສົມບັດ ທີ່ຍ້ອງໄວ້ຫຼາຍກວ່າໝູ່ເຖິງ ໕ ຂໍ້ຄືພຣະອານົນທ໌ນັ້ນເອງ ດັ່ງທີ່ກ່າວແລ້ວ,
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